Wire splice



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United States Patent O 3,383,644 WIRE SPLICE Joseph A. Nava, Villa Park,Jack F. Shearer, Lake Forest, and Alvin R. Burton, Northbrook, Ill.,assignors to The Pyle-National Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofNew Jersey Continuation-impart of applications Ser. No. 484,657, Sept.2, 1965, and Ser. No. 524,382, Feb. 2, 1966. This application Aug. 1,1966, Ser. No. 569,118

11 Claims. (Cl. 339-205) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wire splicing unithaving an insulating housing and a plurality of generally side-by-sidehollow interior portions. Each of the hollow interior portions have aninternal connector member for receiving a pair of wires to be spliced.Each of the internal connector members have a conductive loop connectingadjacent members and extending above the hollow interior portion and tothe vicinity of an access opening formed transversely across a pluralityof side-by-side hollow interior portions.

This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending applicationsSer. No. 484,657, led Sept. 2, 1965, and Ser. No. 524,382, filed Feb. 2,1966.

This invention relates to quick operating wire splicing devices whereinwire ends are provided with external contacts and are detachablyconnected together in any combination. In particular, this inventionrelates to an internal splice contact having tubular contact portionsand having a conductive loop for electrically connecting the tubularcontact portions of adjacent splicing pairs.

This invention is particularly applicable where it is desirable to forma common splice between a multiplicity of wires without resorting torelatively expensive connectors and cumbersome interconnections, andwhere the splicing device can quickly connect and disconnect the wires.

The quick splicing device of the invention has many advantages since itoperates successfully in an environment presenting shock, vibration andthermo-variations which tend to disrupt the cooperable electricalconnections. Furthermore, the electrical systems in which such asplicing device is an integral part may require that the electricalcircuit be not interrupted for even a small interval of time experiencedthrough conditions such as vibration and shock.

In addition to the need for continuous electrical connection between thecontacts of a wire splicing device, means must be provided to assurethat the contacts remain clean of foreign materials prior to the use ofthe splicing device. Dust or other foreign particles collected at a wiresplicing contact can readily disrupt or hinder the proper functioning ofa sensitive electrical network.

Also it is highly desirable in many circumstances to provide a devicehaving all of the above properties and also having a means forconnecting a given splice pair with any given number of additionalsplice pairs wherein the connection between adjacent splice pairs may bereadily separated by a user and wherein the entire system isnevertheless maintained dust free.

Therefore it is a principal object of this invention to provide a quicksplice device which is suitable for being used under varyingenvironmental circumstances.

It is also an object of this device to provide a Wire splice devicewhich employs a resilient tubular splicing member and which has meansfor connecting adjacent splicing pairs and for readily disconnectingsuch pairs without permanently exposing the splicing unit to dust,moisture, and other foreign particles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a readily detachablewire splice unit wherein adjacent splice pairs are connected by aconductive loop and wherein the splicing unit has an opening forallowing the user to readily sever the conductive loop to maintainelectrical isolation of a chosen splice pair without interfering withthe electrical combination of other spliced pairs.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a quick wire splicemechanism for splicing a single set or a plurality ot sets of wiremembers wherein the unspliced contacts are maintained free of dust,moisture, and other foreign particles.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be understood in greater detail from the followingdescription and the associated drawings wherein reference numerals areutilized in designating an illustrative embodiment.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a partially sectioned view of a wire splicing unit accordingto this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view having a portion thereof sectioned for furtherillustrating the wire splicing unit as shown in FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view through the wire splicing unit of FIGURE 1as taken along the lines III-III;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of a portion of the internal connectormember of the wire splice device of this invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the lines V-V of FIGURE 5.

As shown on the drawings:

The present invention contemplates a splicing device wherein theprinciples of construction may be utilized to provide a single splicebetween a single pair of wires, a common splice between la multiplicityof paired wires, or a multiplicity of single wire splices betweencorresponding paired wires. The splice of .this invention is capable ofwithstanding shock, vibration and thermovari-ations without breaking theelectrical connection and is maintained free of foreign particles andmoisture pri-or to and after the splicing operation.

This invention also provides a Wire splicing unit which comprises anumber of wire splicing sets disposed in generally side-by-siderelationship land wherein .the individual splicing `sets are connectedby a conductive loop in such a manner as to be readily severable by auser for electrically isolating one or a given number of splicing sets.

According to one aspect of this invention, an electricaly connection ismaintained Ibetween a pair of wires by .three formed electricallyIconductive metal str-ips, two of which act to retain the Wires inposition within an insulating housing and a third of which happens .tomake lthe electrical connection between the w-ires. When a plurality ofsuch strips are provided in a single housing, they can `be bridgedtogether to form a common splice between a number of wires, -or ltheIstrips can be utilized as separate individual pieces to form multiplesingle wire splices. Also, if a conductive member is provided 'betweenadjacent connected portions of adjacent wire splicing devices,

and if this kind yof portion -is formed in a suitable manner for beingreadily severed by a user, the wire splicing unit becomes anIadditionally effective and liexible splicing apparatus.

According `to thi-s invention, an insulating housing 10 has a pluralityof generally hollow interior portions 11 formed in side-by-siderelationship `for splicing a number of wire pairs such as the pairs 12and 13.

The insula-ting housing 10 has a base section 14 and three cover Istrips15, `16 and 17. The cover strips 15, 16 and 17 are inter-fitted with thebase 14 in such a manner as to completely enclose the generally hollowinterior portions 11.

Three separate mcmbers are disclosed within the intcrior hollow section-11 for the purpose of making the indicated wire splice. In particular,two holder members such as the members 18 and 19 are disposed atopposite ends of the hollow interior portions 11 for gripping thecontact ends 20 and 21 of a pair of wires 22 and 23. The third member isan internal connector 24 which is disposed intermediate the holderportions 18 and 19 and which is used to make electrical connectionbetween the Contact ends 20 and 21 of the wires 22 and 23. The holderportion-s 18 and 19 as shown in FIGURE 3, may be formed out of a flatmetal strip in a manner generally similar to the technique described inour copending patent application, Ser. No. 524,382. In particular the atmetal strip may `be rolled to have a generally cylindrical wall 25 fromwhich a number of tines 26 may be bent inwardly thereof for the purposeof gripping an end surface 27 of a collet 28 formed about a cylindricalwall 29 of the end contact member 20.

The base 14 of the insulating7 housing7 10 is provided with a recess 30which has end faces 31 and 32. The holder portion 18, for instance, isfitted within the recess 30 and the ends 33 and 34 of the holder portion18 are fitted between the end faces 31 and 32 of the recess 30. In thisway, the holder portion 18 is locked into position axially within thegenerally hollow interior 11 and provides thereby a suitable means forsecurely positioning the contact end 20 of housing 10.

The holder portion 19 which is associated with the contact end 21 of thewire 23 is formed similarly with the holder portion 18 and is similarlydisposed within associated features of the insulating housing 10.Accordingly, reference numerals utilized to describe the cooperation ofthe end contact 20 with the insulating housing 10 have been carriedforward to the similar features associated with the contact end 21 ofthe wire 23.

The insulating cover r10 has opened end sections 35 characterized byinwardly extending end walls 36 and 37 for receiving a molded rubber endseal 38. The rubber seal 38 is provided with a series of grip surfaces39 for providing a dust free seal with the external pin connector or endcontact 20. As described in my copending patent application Ser. No.524,382, the end seals 38 may be formed to completely enclose the openedend sections of the housing 10, even when the pin connector or contactend 20 is not positioned within the hollow interior 11.

This feature may be of importance particularly to the type of insulatinghousing 10 shown in FIGURE 1. The housing 10 has a plurality of hollowinterior portions 11, some of which may not at any one time be in use.However, each hollow interior portion is in communication with otherhollow interior portions, and accordingly dust, moisture or otherforeign matter would be allowed to circulate throughout the system ifany of the opened end sections were exposed to the atmosphere.

The internal connector member 24 which is disposed within the hollowinterior 11 and fitted between the holder portions 18 and 19 may also beformed from a at sheet according to the technique described in ourcopending application, Ser. No. 524,382. In particular, a at sheet maybe cut along specified lines and rolled to form the generallycylindrical configuration of the internal connector 24.

The connector 24 is the element which is utilized to make the electricalcontact between the wires to be spliced, and for this purpose, themember 24 is provided to have a specified amount of resiliency.Resilience in the electrical connector member is desirable if a firmcontact is to be made with the wires being spliced. Resiliency in thecontact members is especially important if the splicing system is toexperience variations in temperature, vibration or shock or the like. Inmany circumstances, for instance,

the wire 22 within the insulating it may be highly important not to loseelectrical contact between a pair of spliced wires even for amicro-second or less. Accordingly, the contact members 24 are designedto maintain a uniform electrical contact between the contact ends 20 and21 ofthe wires 22 and 23 to be spliced.

The internal connector member 24 is provided generally with tubular endportions 40 and 41 for receiving the contact ends 20 and 21 of thesplicing wires 22 and 23. The tubular end portions 40 and 41 are splitlongitudinally as at 42 and 43 to give added resiliency to theelectrical connection to be made between the wires 22 and 23. Also, thetubular end portions 40 and 41 have flared end sections 44 and 45 toallow the insertion of a pin therein which pin has an outside diametergreater than the inside diameter of the tubular portions 4t) and 41.This combination of the larger diameter pin and smaller diameter tubularportions along with the flared end sections 44 and 45 as well as withthe longitudinal split 42 and 43 provides a resilient contact betweenthe wires 22 and 23.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the base portion 14 of the insulating housing 10has a surface 46 formed intermediate the end recess 30 for receiving theinternal connector 24. The surface 46 also has contoured edges 47 and 48which are mated to the flared cnds 44 and 45 of the tubularend portions40 and 41. Due to this mating relationship between the internalconnector 24 and the contoured sur. face 46, axial movement of theconnector 24 is resisted during the insertion ofthe end contacts 20 and21 within the tubular end portions 40 and 41.

The pin connectors or end contacts 20 and 21 associated with the wires22 and 23 are shown in FIGURE 3 positioned within the hollow interior11. Generally, the pin connector consists of a standardized cylindricalcontact 49 having a rounded head 50, shank portion 51 and a shoulder 52which is formed at the collet 28. The shank portion 51 is xedly securedin a well understood manner to the associated wire or cable 23. Thecontact 35 is positioned interiorly of the tubular end portion 40 and isrmly gripped therein due to the resilient nature of the tubular portion40 and due to the larger size of the cylindrical contact member 49.

As shown in FIGURE 5, a rm contact between the tubular portion 40, forinstance, and the cylindrical contact 49 is further accomplished by thenature of the crosssectional configuration of the tubular portion 40. Inparticular, the tubular portion 40 has a generally rectangularcross-section which comprises generally plane surfaces 41, 42, 43 and 44for contacting the cylindrically shaped pin 49. By so forming thetubular portion 40, the contact area between `the tubular portion andthe pin 49 is reduced, and the result is an increase in contact pressureat the pin 49 which would not be present with the use of a cylindrically formed member in place of the tubular portion 40 as shown inFIGURE 5.

The shank portion 51 of the pin connector is disposed axially within thehollow interior 11, and the shoulder 52 is locked against the end wall32 of the housing 10 due to the presence of the tines 26 which arepositioned against the surface 27 of the collet 28. Therefore, while thecontinuity of the electrical contact is provided by the tubular portions40 and 41 of the internal connector member 24, the axial mobility of thepin connector is provided by the shoulder 52 in combination with theoppositely orientated tines 26. During insertion of the pin connectorwithin the hollow interior 11, the shoulder 52 easily spreads the tines26 outwardly from the position shown in FIGURE 3 for acquiring thelocked position shown between those tines and the wall 32.

In various electrical uses, it may not only be desirable to splice thewire 22 to the wire 23, but it may also be desirable to join a number ofsets of spliced `wires together. On the other hand, it may be alsodesirable to select from a number of available choices which wires areto be electrically joined and which wires to be electrically isolatedfrom the remaining wires in a given wire splicing unit. For thispurpose, the wire splicing unit shown in FIGURE 1 is provided with ameans for readily choosing which of la number of wires within the unitare to be electrically joined together and which of those wires are tobe eletcrically isolated.

The wire splicing unit of FIGURE 1 is provided with a slot or opening 53which is formed generally transversely of the hollow interior portions11 of `the housing 10. The opening 53 cuts across the hollow interiorportions 11 in the vicinity ofthe internal connector 24 and therebycommunicates each of the hollow interior portions 1'1 with each otherhollow interior portion. This communication between the hollow interiorportions 11 then allows the positioning of a conductive member along thelength ofthe opening 53 to interconnect each of the internal connectormembers 24.

For the purpose of interconnecting adjacent internal connector members24 and for providing that the connection will be readily severable atthe will of the user, a central portion 54 of the internal connector 24is provided with side walls 55 and 56 which extend in a generallyperpendicular direction to the transverse opening 53. An end lwall S7then interconnects side walls 55 and 56 of the adjacent internalconnectors 24. Hence, the combination of the side walls 55 and 56 alongwith the end wall 57 forms a continuous electrical connection betweeneach one of the wire splicing devices which comprise the wire splicingunit as shown in FIGURE 1.

The combination of the side walls 55 and 56 and the end wall 57 may besaid`to comprise a conductive loop which is disposed in such a way as tohave the end wall 57 removed from the vicinity of the tubular endportions 40 and 41 and orientated in such a manner -as to be readilyseverable lby a user. For instance, the end wall 57 is spaced upwardlywithin the opening 53 such that a user may readily sever the end walll57 to electrically isolate one or more of the wire splicing sets. Tothis end, the perpendicularity of the side walls 55 and 56 assure thatsuicient space will be provided between those walls to allow theinsertion of -a cutter or the like to sever the end wall `57.

To sever one or several of the end walls S7 which interconnect theinternal connectors 24, the central section 16 of the housing 10 may bereadily removed by loosening two fasteners 58 and 59` which are disposedat opposite ends of the section 16. In this way, the central section 16takes the form of a cover or strip which is readily removable but whichis tightly secured to the housing 10 to prevent the entry of dust,moisture or other foreign matter into the hollow interior portions 11.The central section or cover 16 may be inter-titted as at 60 and 61 in awell understood manner and may -be provided with a recessed region 62 toallow the side Walls 5S and 56 of the internal connections 24 to extendadequately away from the vicinity of the tubular end portions 40 and 41for being readily and easily severable by a user.

It will be understood that various modifications of the embodimentdisclosed herein may be accomplished by those versed in the art, but wedesire to claim all such embodiments as properly come within the scopeand spirit of our contribution to the art.

We claim as our invention:

1. A wire splice assembly comprising,

an insulator cover having an axial through opening ycomprising a centralbore, a collet cavity axially inwardly of each respective end of saidbore and a sealing cavity axially outwardly of each respective colletcavity and opening out of a corresponding end of said cover,

a current continuing spring member in said central bore comprising abody and retainer portion for engagement with an adjoining portion ofsaid cover and a pair of oppositely extending socket portions forreceiving a pin contact of a pin connector inserted thereinto,

a collet in each collet cavity having inwardly directed tines forengaging the adjoining shoulder of a corresponding pin connectorinserted thereinto,

thereby preventing axial displacement yof the pin connector in thesplice assembly,

and ya corrugated rubber seal ring in each sealing cavity for sealablyengaging an inwardly adjoining peripheral surface.

2. A wire splice assembly as defined in claim 1 and furthercharacterized by said assembly being constructed to provide plural wiresplicing sets in side-by-side relation,

said insulator cover having plural through openings formed therein,

said current continuing member having a common body and retainer portionand plural separate pairs of socket portions.

3. A wire splice assembly as defined in claim 2 Iand furthercharacterized 'by said insulator cover having a removable portion inregister with said current continuing member land affording accessthereto so a user may selectively cut said body and retainer portion `toisolate cavities which are not required to be electricallyinterconnected.

4. A wire splicing unit comprising:

an insulating housing having a plurality of generally side-by-sidehollow interior portions,

internal connector members positioned within each of said hollowinterior portions,

said internal connector members having means for firmly contacting theends of a pair of wires,

said insulating housing having an access opening formed transverselythereof and cutting across a plurality of the side-by-side hollowinterior portions in the vicinity of said internal connector members,

said internal connector members being generally spaced -away from saidaccess opening and having a severable loop interconnecting adjacentconnector members `and extending from said connector member toward saidaccess opening, and

means for detachably and sealably closing said opening to saidinsulating housing.

'5. A wire splicing device in Iaccordance with claim 1 wherein saidspring member comprises:

lan electrically conductive member having tubular contact portionsformed at opposite ends thereof,

said tubular contact portions being split longitudinally for allowingthe resilient insertion and holding of a contact end of a wire having anoutside diameter greater than the inside diameter of the tubularportions.

'6. A wire splicing device in accordance with claim 5 wherein saidtubular contact portions have a gener-ally rectangular cross-sectionland have outwardly iiared end portions, whereby internal wire contactsmay be firmly spliced within said tubular contact portions.

7. A wire splicing unit comprising:

ian insulating housing having a plurality of generally side-bysidehollow interior portions,

internal holder members and a connector member positioned within each ofsaid hollow interior portions,

said internal holder members ybeing disposed at opposite ends of anassociated hollow interior portion and being electrically separated fromsaid connector member and having gripping portions for detachablyengaging the contact ends of a pair of wires,

said internal connector member being disposed intermediate said holdermembers and having means for firmly contacting the ends of a pair ofwires,

said insulating housing having an -access opening formed transverselythereof and cutting across a plurality of the side-by-side hollowinterior portions in the vicinity of said internal connector members,

thereby communicating each of said hollow interior portions with eachother of said hollow interior portions, said internal connector membersbeing readily and separately connected together by a conductive memberdisposed along the length of and within said opening, and

means for detachably and sealably closing said opening to saidinsulating housing.

8. A wire splicing unit in accordance with claim 7 wherein said internalconnector member has rst and second tubular end portions, said tubularend portions being split longitudinally for allowing the `resilientinsertion and holding of a contact end of a wire having a diametergreater than the diameter ofthe tubular portion.

9. A wire splicing unit in accordance with claim 8 wherein thecross-section of said tubular end portion has a generally rectangularform for firmly engaging the contact ends of a pair of wires.

10. A wire splicing unit in accordance with claim S wherein saidinternal connector member has a conductive loop having a surfaceextending from the tubular end portions into the vicinity of saidopening for being readily separable to electrically separate adjacentinternal connector members.

11. A wire splicing unit in accordance with claim 10 wherein saidconductive loop is formed intermediate the tubular end portions andwherein said loop has side walls extending generally perpendicular tothe longitudinal axis of said opening and an end wall formed generallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of said opening, and wherein said endwall interconnects the side walls of adjacent internal connectors.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,158,004 5/1939 Douglas 339-2042,175,251 10/1939 Carson 339-205 2,396,725 3/1946 Thomas 339-2052,431,583 11/1947 Penfold 339-205 2,463,826 3/1949 Thacker 339-2172,703,395 3/1955 Long 339-205 2,758,291 8/1956 Richards 339-2052,935,720 5/1960 Lorimer 339-205 3,107,964 10/1963 Wolf 339-2053,158,424 11/1964 Bowen 339-217 3,206,717 9/1965 Brown et al. 339-2053,263,205 7/1966 Chandler 339-205 RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner.

R. S. STROBEL, Assistant Examiner.

